Support curriculum and 21st Century learning standards
pd21 prepares teachers to mindfully integrate technology into their practices by promoting standards-based lesson planning processes. Following Understanding By Design lesson-planning processes, pd21 teaches and models the best use of technology to support curriculum standards and 21st Century learning skills. Teachers are taught to engage students in specific learning standards, develop essential questions, and then design learning experiences through which they will be required to produce evidence of the acquired concepts and skills.
In addition to targeting subject-specific learning objectives, pd21 helps educators plan the learning experience to help students develop and foster lifelong learning skills such as the ability to direct one’s own learning, to think analytically and creatively, and to develop higher-order thinking and problem solving skills.
Finally, teachers are taught to consider whether, and how, technology can be used to both enhance the student learning experience and provide ongoing opportunities to develop information and communication literacy skills.
As teachers determine how they can best use technology within their own subject areas, pd21 requires that they simultaneously consider how they are contributing to their students’ overall learning and the development of thinking skills.
